Creativity Prompts for Writers, Journalers, Artists and Speakers

Because some hours might pass before food or questions again, I have taken to napping in the afternoon, while studying the brilliant white shaft of light that pours through the narrow recess overhead. Of clockwork regularity, it is a beautiful, deathless thing – the sort of incandescence one sees in very old books, generally for the edification of miracles, astonished masses and bleeding saints. Midday is its zenith, when its glorious blaze pierces my dim cell. –The People’s Hare by Michael Minnis

Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story about a prisoner.

Journaling Prompt: What are your favorite things to do when you are bored?

Trigg was a prosperous grocer with a twin-gabled shop in Middle Row, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, as well as a number of other properties. He was a church warden, an overseer of the parish, and an important man locally. It is said that one night, he and two friends witnessed grave robbers at a local graveyard, and they vowed to make sure that this would not happen to them. Trigg stated in his will that his body should be committed for a minimum of 30 years to “the West end of my Hovel to be decently laid there upon a floor erected by my Executor, upon the purlin for the same purpose, nothing doubting but that at the general Resurrection, I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God.” According to Gentleman’s Magazine of 5 Feb 1751, Trigg’s will stated that he supposed that he would return to life after 30 years and then his estate would revert to him, and that he ordered that the barn be locked with the key inside his coffin so that he could let himself out. Shortly before he died, Trigg had negotiated with the parish authorities to rent his barn as the town’s workhouse…

Trigg died in Letchworth, Hertfordshire on 6 October 1724 before renovations could be carried out on his barn… Therefore, his remains were placed in a lead-lined coffin of oak and pine and hoisted into the rafters of the barn behind the shop, about 10 feet (3.0 m) above the ground. –Wikipedia

Fiction Writing Prompt: Write the story of an unusual will provision.

Journaling Prompt: What do you want done with your body after you die?

How hard to realize that every camp of men or beast has this glorious starry firmament for a roof! In such places standing alone on the mountaintop it is easy to realize that whatever special nests we make — leaves and moss like the marmots and birds, or tents or piled stone — we all dwell in a house of one room — the world with the firmament for its roof — and are sailing the celestial spaces without leaving any track. –John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir; edited by Linnie Marsh Wolfe

Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story, poem, or haiku inspired by the shared roof of the firmament.

Journaling Prompt: Write about a revelation you’ve had while stargazing.

Welcome to the Carnival of Creativity for November 27, 2016. All links will open in a new tab or window, so feel free to click through and leave some love in the comments. Once you close that window, you’ll be right back here for more linky goodness.

Every passing hour brings the Solar System forty-three thousand miles closer to Globular Cluster M13 in Hercules—and still there are some misfits who insist that there is no such thing as progress. –Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Fiction Writing Prompt: Use the first line of the week as the starting point or inspiration for a scene, story, poem, or haiku.

Journaling Prompt: Write about a scientific theory you disagree with.

Art Prompt: Globular Cluster

Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Tell your audience about the current debate between science and faith.

The truth is being suppressed across the world using a variety of methods, according to a special report in the 250th issue of Index on Censorship magazine.

Physical violence is not the only method being used to stop news being published, says editor Rachael Jolley in the Danger in Truth: Truth in Danger report. As well as kidnapping and murders, financial pressure and defamation legislation is being used, the report reveals.

“In many countries around the world, journalists have lost their status as observers and now come under direct attack.”

There’s an increasing trend to label journalists as “extremists” or “terrorists” so governments can crackdown on reporting they don’t like. According to Index’s Mapping Media Freedom project, which tracks attacks on journalists in more than 40 countries, 35 incidents were reported where journalists were being linked to “extremism” to restrict reporting, 11 in Russia and others in Belgium, Hungary, France and Spain. –Science Daily

Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story set in a society oppressed by censorship.

Journaling Prompt: What kind of news do you feel is being suppressed where you live? Why do you feel this?

Art Prompt: Censorship

Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Tell your audience about the current state of censorship.

Diwali or Deepavali is the Hindu festival of lights celebrated every year in autumn in the northern hemisphere (spring in southern hemisphere). It is an official holiday in Fiji, Guyana, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. One of the major festivals of Hinduism, it spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. Its celebration includes millions of lights shining on housetops, outside doors and windows, around temples and other buildings in the communities and countries where it is observed. The festival preparations and rituals typically extend over a five-day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika in Bikram Sambat calendar. In the Gregorian calendar, Diwali night falls between mid-October and mid-November. –Wikipedia

Fiction Writing Prompt: Write a story set during Diwali or create a festival for the world you have created.

Journaling Prompt: Write about what candles and lights symbolize to you.

Art Prompt: Diwali

Non-Fiction / Speechwriting Prompt: Tell your audience about Diwali and compare it to a festival or holiday that you celebrate.